I spent an evening with Neil Parlsey (UTS Director and Programme Co-Ordinator) at the Underground Training Station on Friday and completed their MRT session. Part of the session was Peg Board climbing. Trust me this is tough – in this clip Neil explains what a peg board is and how it can be used to develop specific upper limb and upper body strength for MMA athletes. If you sport involves grappling then you will want one of these to play with!
When new technologies come along I tend to work on this rule of thumb.
"Don’t be the first to try something….but make sure you are not the last!"
So, it may have taken me a while to embrace Twitter but I can now confirm that I’m on there! If anyone wants to catch up on the random thoughts that pop into my head throughout the day and can’t wait for a weekly dose of my ramblings on the blog then come and follow me at http://twitter.com/coachnickg
I promise you that it will be informative and sometimes thought provoking – not just me saying…."I’ve had my breakfast"…."watching Loose Women"…."going to sleep"……"I’m asleep!").
It was another busy week last week, which was rounded off by a pretty full on day on Friday. The day started off with my alarm clock waking me up at 4:30 in the morning and me hitting the road for a three hour road trip down the motorway to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral. I had been asked by the physiotherapy team at the hospital to deliver a one day workshop looking at how strength and conditioning can complement physiotherapy, as part of the ongoing rehabilitation process.
I really enjoyed the workshop and the interaction and enthusiasm from the delegates was refreshing. They certainly came to the session with an open mind and were happy to be challenged in their current practices, willing to look at alternative training methods and open to adopting a more aggressive approach toward rehabilitation.
I deliverd seven session! Here’s what we covered on the day.
What is strength and conditioning – it’s not just lifting heavy weights!
In this session I provided an overview of what strength and conditioning actually is and how it links with other allied health professionals as part of the rehabilitation process. I discussed the role of strength and conditioning in injury reduction and performance enhancement and showed how an ‘athletic’ approach to training and rehabilitation is more than just lifting big heavy weights.
Evaluations – If you are not assessing, you are guessing!
In this session I discussed the importance of the initial evaluation and the impact this has on programme design and exercise prescription. During this session we explored a number of movement based evaluations that can compliment a more traditional static assessment.
Planning and programming – why 3 sets of 10 reps is not good enough!
In this session I showed delegates why programmes based on research from the 1940’s are simply not acceptable. Programme design and exercise selection are simple concepts that we make more complex than necessary. I showed some simple strategies to produce rehab programmes that meet thier client’s needs.
Monitoring adherence – making sure clients stick to the programme.
Most rehab programmes fail because of a lack of adherence. There’s little point producing the perfect rehab programme, only for it to be scrumpled up in a kit bag and never used from one physio session to the next. In this I share with you some simple strategies that I use on a daily basis with clients to ensure that the rehab work gets done!
Injury Reduction and Rehabilitation – keeping your clients out of the treatment room.
It’s rare that injuries occur because of the muscle that is injured! Chances are an injury occurs because other muscles are not doing their jobs properly. In these hands-on sessions I shared the conditioning techniques that I use with his clients on a daily basis.
Lower Body: The knee is often the primary pain site and it’s easy to fall into the trap of symptom based approach to conditioning. In reality, knee pain may be due to issues at the hip or foot. Nick will explore the effective use of aggressive strengthening exercises aimed from the hip down.
Upper Body: Upper limb injuries relate more to the exercises we don’t perform than the ones we do! Nick will share with you his favourite upper limb exercises that will ensure your clients have sturdy shoulders.
Core: Core stability and strength is a widely misunderstood aspect of conditioning. Nick will discuss the over-reaction by many health professionals in their use of popular core-stability exercises and offer an alternative approach to develop a strong and stable core.
A big thank you to Chloe for looking afterme so well and for inviteing me down to speak to the group. It was a long day but I really enjoyed presenting and the practical sessions were particularly good fun, not least the fact that we had 20 physios attempting to perform Turkish Get Ups during the core stability and strength session!
I couldn’t visit the Wirral without dropping in on my good friend and colleague Neil Parsley to take a look at his new training facility based in Hoylake, The Underground Training Station (www.undergroundtrainingstation.com). Neil currently works as a Strength & Conditioning Coach with the GB Taekwondo team and several Olympic track and field athletes including Jenny Meadows- 2009 World 800m bronze medallist as a well as writing a regular articles for Fighting Fit magazine.
Neil Parsley (UTS Director and Programme Co-Ordinator)…and fully paid up member of the gun club!
I was looking forward to catching up with Neil and his team as I had heard so much about the facility (mostly from Charles at EXF – who spent many a late night installing the equipment!).
As I turned onto the industrial complex I was struck by a huge eye-catching logo on the side of one of the units (possibly one of the best logos. I’ve come across in recent years!). Shortly after arriving, the main man arrived to show me around. Neil and his team of coaches have put together a first-class training facility. Neil took some time to explain to me the idea behind the facility.
He explained that The Underground Training Station is a dedicated Performance Centre, which bucks the trend of typical large chain and franchise gym operations. There’s no cardio theatre, fancy locker rooms or sparkling resistance machines, just space, simple well-designed training equipment, and a massive helping of enthusiasm and attitude. You come to work, you come to train. If you want to sip cappuccino in a coffee bar having had an Indian head massage, then this certainly is not the place to come!
As I walked through the entrance and up the stairs into what the coaching staff call the steelworks (a performance area with several power racks, enough weight to sink a battleship and just about every bar you would ever need) I started to get butterflies! Having butterflies in my stomach is by no means a new experience, and often happens before a training session, particularly if it is going to be a tough one. Mike Hughes (Head S&C Coach), confirmed my fears when he gave me the good news that I was going to be taking part in their trademark MRT session.
Mike Hughes (Head Underground Strength and Conditioning Coach)
I got changed and joined the other 15 clients for 60 minutes of heart thumping, leg screaming, lung busting, arm pumping training… and I enjoyed every single minute of it… sort of! I climbed, dipped, chinned, skipped, jumped, squatted, catlicked and battled ropes – it was brutal! This isn’t just a beat you up training session though. The team have put a lot of thought into making the exercises progressive and rather than just screaming abuse at the participants the coaches are constantly offering technical advice and words of encouragement (Mike’s experience speaks for itself – Mike was most recently the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Matt Hughes’s HIT (Hughes Intensive Training) Squad Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Granite City, Illinois, USA. His most notable achievement during his time there was preparing Brian Foster to his first UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) win over Brock Larson at UFC 106 in Las Vegas, Nevada.).
The coaches at The Underground Training Station actually COACH (no that doesn’t mean asking what I’m doing at the weekend, and if I watched Corrie last night – it means coaching, offering technical advice not fluff and noise! As Vern Gambetta said today on Twitter – Train seals, coach people! Training is what you do to someone, coaching is what you do with them. The team at UTS are not personal trainers – they are coaches.
I was glad it was over and pleased I had survived. I was still sweating in the shower and my heart rate monitor showed just how effective that 60 minutes had been – 750 Kcal – zapped (not to mention EPOC whilst eating my dinner at Chez Parsley and driving home to Newcastle), an average hear rate of 154 bpm (that included warm up and cool down!) and I hit a new peak heart rate of 191bpm (I think that was doing the bag work – flash backs to the good old Taekwon-do days!).
Thanks to the team at UTS, I wish you all the success and I will be popping in again the next time I’m in the NW. Take a look at the video – see if you can spot me getting work done!
If you like the look of what you have seen then you should pay a visit to their brand new facility is located at the below address.
Underground Training Station
Unit 4 Carham Commercial Park
Carham Road
Hoylake
CH47 4FF
United Kingdom
One of the S&C coaches that I’m currently working with as part of her mentorship programme delivered a presentation yesterday on the importance of strength and conditioning for athletic development and one of her slide featured Mary Poppins. Now, if you have young children or even if you are an adult fan of the film, I’m sure you will have an idea of where I’m going with this post.
The image reminded me of the following phrase taken from the film and I think it sums up exactly what we need to be focusing on with our athletes and client.
"…PRACTICALLY PERFECT IN EVERY WAY…"
In an era obsessed with volume, density, intensity, crossfit, 300 workouts, and bootcamps lets not forget that we also need to execute our training programmes with solid technique and purpose. I’m all for tough sessions and accept from time to time things get a big ugly – we can’t always be pretty, pretty!
However, if all you have in your locker as a coach is the ability to beast people until they puke and hang the technique, then I think you need to watch Mary Poppins and remind yourself that it is not all about grunt and sweat!
This is a newly revised slide taken from my presentation "Everyone Should Train Like An Athlete" and is a lesson well worth remembering. Julie, thanks from the reminder and the link back to Mary Poppins (you must have too much time on your hands if you are still watching that film – my excuse is I have a 5 year old daughter!)
Bowmchickawowwow - yes this is a triathlete and not just an attempt to get you to read this blog post! (Aussie Erin Densham). Well to be honest figured you wouldn’t read the blog post with a photo of me in my tri-suit!
Now you have to say that title in a John Wayne voice (I’m thinking that it may only be me that finds that funny)…anyway…this is a very quick post because I still can’t believe there is anyone out there on this site that doesn’t understand the benefits of resistance training for endurance athletes – triathletes in particular.
If you’ve heard me speak or read my other posts you will know that in my opinion most triathletes have £3K bikes and 50 pence legs and spend way too much time cycling and not enough time getting strong.
Just in case you or your athletes still think the best way to improve bike performances is to do more of the same…read this review in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning (The Effects of Resistance Training On Road Cycling Performance Among Highly Trained Cyclists: A Systematic Review, 2010, 24 (2) 560-566
I’ll give you the edited highlights and the authors closing remarks…..are you ready……here it comes…..
…replacing a portion of a cyclist’s endurance training with resistance training will result in improved time trial performance and maximal power…
See you in the gym…remember you can train hard, or you can train SMART!
Sorry – Erin doesn’t train with me at Smart Fitness!
The principles of periodisation based on Eastern European principles are the foundation of many athletic training programmes. Surprisingly little is supported by research despite the fact that it is widely used and widely written about, despite the numerous presentations on this topic, and despite the fact that it apparently works based on practical observation (2).
Tradition dictates that to be successful in endurance based sports you need to complete high volumes of training. The traditional approach is to move from high volume/low intensity to low volume/high intensity work. Basic periodisation also moves from general to more specific work as the competition approaches (5). This is a popular method and is heavily featured in the classic book on periodisation by Tudor Bompa, Periodisation: The Theory and Methodology of Training. Volume, early on in the training cycle is better, but what if intensity and not volume is really the key for unlocking your athletic potential?
An Alternative Approach
Albert Einstein’s definition of stupidity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
I’m sure when you read Albert’s quote you thought to yourself, well that is obvious; of course you can’t expect to get a different result by simply doing the same thing over and over again.
Well, whilst I agree with you that it seems obvious, what I am constantly amazed at is that even now, how often I see people doing exactly that. What would your reaction be if I suggested you try the exact opposite of everything you believe to be true about developing endurance? Would you be prepared to give it a shot?
Now I’m not suggesting that classical approaches should be scrapped altogether, but in events where local muscular endurance is required, as for swimmers, runners, cyclists, rowers and triathletes, reverse periodisation may be the better option (5). The same can also hold true for athletes competing in team and combat sports.
Changing Paradigms
When I graduated from University more than a decade ago the books and research papers that I had been studying all told me that there was just one way to improve your endurance capacity. I’m pretty sure that paradigm still remains as the cornerstone of many a sports science manual.
As I started to work with athletes from various sports I found myself reciting the now well entrenched mantra of those traditional models for endurance training “you must first develop an aerobic base…volume is the key”. Whilst I was outwardly recommending the development of an aerobic base, my gut instinct and own training experience nagged away at me, is this the only way?
Just a couple of years out from university, around 1999 I discovered an alternative approach that was being offered up by Ian King, an Australian strength and conditioning coach. In his book, Foundations of Physical Exercise, Ian presented an alternative to the traditional model (Fig 2) for the periodisation of endurance, ‘Reverse Periodisation’.
The Light Bulb Moment
As I read Ian Kings book I had one of those ‘light bulb’ moments and I’m going to share with you an extract from his book.
“(page 80)…The ‘reverse’ approach is based on maintaining intensity closer to that at the competition demands, recognising that initially the athlete’s capacity to perform this will be low. Then to increase the volume progressively, without sacrificing the intensity. In summary, the goal is for the athlete to learn how to run fast over a distance that they are capable of running fast over, then increasing that distance.
The difference in approaches of these two models is essentially this – the traditional model commences with capacity (volume) and shifts towards power (intensity). The alternative model, as the name suggests, reverses this approach – commences with power and shifts toward capacity.”
What I liked about this ‘revised’ model was that it made intuitive sense. Whilst there was, and continues to be a distinct dearth of research to back the training methodology, this alternative approach made, and continues to make sense to me.
Despite a lack of scientific research, people that made a living from coaching athletes such as Charles Poliquin and Istvan Bayli continued to contribute to its design and use. Here was a training method that could be applied across a wide range of sports, from endurance events such as swimming and running to team and combat sports.
His model for reverse periodisation (Figure 3) can be traced back to eastern block sprinters. Infamous track coach, Charlie Francis understood the importance of training intensity and in his book, Speed Trap discussed how East German sprinters began their training at top speed over short distances, before increasing the distance as the season progressed. This training methodology was not reserved purely for sprinters and was also used by their swimmers who completed tough workouts in an endless pool (3). King’s argument was that what worked with speed and power athletes could also be of benefit to any sportsperson taking part in events that required an element of endurance. Key to his rationale is the concept that speed endurance must be developed at the appropriate pace.
A Traditional model for the periodisation of endurance.
1. Development of an ‘aerobic base’.
2. Develop foundations of specific endurance (threshold work).
3. Specific endurance work and speed and power training.
4. Taper.
The revised method pretty much flipped the more traditional approach on its head. Athletes using this method by pass the ‘aerobic base’ work and start by training specific endurance and speed/power training before moving onto threshold work and then tapering. At no point are they moving slowly for long durations.
1. Development of a ‘speed and power base’.
2. Develop foundations of specific endurance.
3. Combination training (variety of duration/specificity).
4. Taper.
One aspect of the more traditional approach that I often struggled with was that whilst developing an ‘aerobic base’ much of the training focused on central adaptations of the cardiovascular system (heart and lungs), paying scant regard for the muscles used to actually move the body! As Ian King pointed out in his book Foundations of Physical Preparation, “…endurance is more complex than this…specific conditioning for specific sports…is a special blend of the various physical qualities. Conditioning is not just endurance, and certainly not just about the heart and lungs.”
The demands placed upon the musculoskeletal system at slow speeds are totally different to the demands place upon it when working at higher intensities. It just didn’t make sense to me that you could expect an athlete to spend months plodding around building an aerobic base and then expect them to crank up the speed and start working at higher intensities as the competition season approached.
Essentially you are asking the musculoskeletal system to re-programme itself to cope with the increase in training intensity. If you want your athlete to compete at a certain intensity why not start at the intensity and build the volume on, not only will you get central adaptations that will go a long way to developing a lungs like dustbin liners but you will also develop the inter- and intra-muscular coordination that will help the athlete compete at the appropriate intensity. The development of endurance goes hand in hand with the functional specialisation of the skeletal muscles (6)
Take Home Message
I believe that reverse periodisation of endurance offers an effective alternative to more traditional training methods. As I mentioned at the start of this article, I’m not suggesting that we completely scrap the more classical approaches, simply that, if you have fallen into the trap of repeating yourself year after year, now may be a good time to try something new. This may be the first time you have ever heard of, let alone considered using reverse periodisation.
If you still need some convincing take some time to consider some practical points.
1.Why do you start each year like you’ve never trained before? Low intensity, steady state efforts are in my opinion a waste of precious training time if you already have a good training history. I would question if there is any need to do lots of long, low intensity work at all, as this will just lead to specific muscular adaptations – unless of course you want to compete at a slow pace for a very long time! Doesn’t it just make more sense to train the body to work at race intensity and then increase the volumes and therefore your endurance?
2.If cycling or running is your thing and you live in the northern hemisphere, you know that during the winter months, the nights draw in quickly and you will find that it can become too dark/dangerous to ride on the road or run out on the streets in the evenings. This often means you will have to slope off to the garage for a session on your indoor trainer during the week or pop to the gym and jump on a treadmill, and many people can only sustain about 45 minutes before boredom sets in! So with a reduced work time available it makes sense to train more intensely during the winter and to increase the longer rides and runs as the evenings draw out. Reverse periodisation is the perfect training method.
Fellow athletes may try to fill your head with misinformation about how all you need to do is develop a sound aerobic base and then build your speed work. But remember, if you are not happy with your current performances, simply doing the same thing over and over again is not going to help.
Albert Einstein knew a thing or two, maybe it’s time to stop following the crowd and try something new. What do you have to loose?
References
1. Bompa, T Periodization. Theory and Methodology of Training.
2. Cissik J, Hedrick A, Barnes M. NSCA J: 2008: 30 (1): 45–51.
3.Francis, C. Speed Trap: Inside the Biggest Scandal in Olympic History.
4. King, I. Foundations of Physical Preparation.
5. Marshall, J. Peak Performance: 2004: 198 (June)
A couple of weeks ago we finished the 12 week intern programme with Northumbria University and for the last session I opened myself up to questions on anything the interns wanted to ask (within reason). By far the most popular request was to look through my old programmes and pull out examples of sessions that I had put together for different athletes over the years.
I’m not sure who enjoyed the session more….ME or the interns!
I tracked back to the early days when I started working with the Men’s Artistic Gymnastic squad and was fascinated by the programmes. There was stuff in there that has long since been assigned to memory which on seeing again for the first time in almost a decade may me think ‘bloody hell, that was a smart exercise, why don’t I use that anymore’.
It was also intersting to see my programmes evolve over time and to see how templates, exercise descriptions, exercise order etc changed as I developed as a coach and established my own training methodolgy. Some of the programmes have stood the test of time and I would be happy to deliver those sessions today, others however just simply wouldn’t cut it by my own standards today!
I think that’s a good thing. I would have been really concerned if the programmes I was writing ten years ago looked exactly the same as the ones I’m writing now.The old programmes were very complex with lots of different exercises. The current programmes seem very simple in comparison and I think that is because over the years you figure out what works and what doesn’t and the need to impress with fancy drills and techniques disappears. If it works, use it…if it doesn’t work, don’t use it!
It’s good to change your mind and I don’t think programme design should stand still, it’s an evolving process – not a prescription that never changes. It’s important that when we say we have 10 years experience as a coach, we have 10 years experience that is evolving and changing….not just one year of experience repeated for another 9 years!
I wonder what my progammes will look like in 2020?!
Just a quick post, Clare took more than 500 photo’s at the workshop on Saturday so I put some of my favourites into this short montage to give you a flavour of what to expect when you come along to the other events.
If you like what you see then book on to the next available workshop – we are taking this in the road so we should be coming to a town or city near you at some point during 2010.
What a great workshop yesterday in Ipswich. I didn’t realise Ipswich was sooooooo far away from Newcastle until we were about 4 hours into the journey and we still had another 2 hours to go! Still, there was plenty of time to put the world to rights with fellow presenters Duncan French and Brendan Chaplin as we made our way down to deepest darkest suffolk. I even had time to introduce them to my 5 year old daughters favourite music compliation – a rousing rendition of Apples and Banana’s will stay with me for a long time!
The team at EXF-Perform Better nailed the organisation and had sourced a superb venue (Suffolk UCS – they were brilliant hosts and made sure we had everything that we needed). Charles at EXF always gets carried away when it comes to providing us with kit and he didn’t fail this time either – we had so many toys to play with and I had a fantastic time bringing my presentation to life during the afternoon ‘hands on sessions’.
Thanks to the men and women in Ipswich for coming along to hear what we had to say and for working so hard during the practicals.There was a great mix of delegates, from sport science students, PT’s, sports therapists through to world champion power lifters…and we even had a heavily pregnant delegate (I thought we may have been in for a live birth as part of the workshop at some points!). I hope you enjoyed the sessions as much as I did and have gone away with information that you can use straight away with your clients. We were peppered with questions throughout the day and it shows that there is real thirst for knowledge out there among the fitness professionals.
I can’t wait for London in March where we have a fantastic line up. Matt Lovell smashed the nutrition session in Ipswich and I know the team at EXF are working hard to include Matt into the schedule for London, which will be a real bonus for anyone attending. An opportunity not to be missed – what that man can do with a blender and griddle pan is amazing!
See you all in London
March 27th – Kensington
Nick Grantham – Performance Based Conditioning: Everyone Should Train Like An Athlete
Duncan French - Preparing To Perform – Olympic Weightlifting Complexes For Movement Preparation
Neil Parsley – Strength and Conditioning For Combat Athletes: How to Build 21st Century Gladiators
Charlotte Ord – Integrating Kettlebells For Ultimate Women’s Fat Loss Programming
********BREAKING NEWS….Matt Lovell has been added to the coaching team and will be at the London workshop********
If you are thinking of coming along to one of the workshops then check out the video clip to get a taste of what is on offer at the workshops. for everyone coming to London – see you in March!
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